After much more intensive research, we have finally come up with an approximation for the carbon footprint of eating in Brown Dining Halls for a day. I cannot stress enough that especially with dining hall foods this number is an estimate. While tracking the source of local foods was quite easy, because we knew the exact farms and locations each item came from, tracking the source and journey of more processed foods was quite a challenge.
The fact that most of these products stopped at one or more production facilities on their paths to our plates made the tracing process significantly more complicated. While we tried to take into account some of the bigger production facilities foods passed through, I think it’s pretty safe to say that some facilities slipped under our radar (meaning that the actual carbon footprint is probably a little higher than we calculated).
In order to source our foods we first talked to a fabulous real food intern for Brown Dining Services. She basically does what we have been doing all year round in terms of sourcing dining hall foods (amazing!), and was able to tell us the origins of many Ratty foods. For some items (such as eggs and milk) we were pleasantly surprised to learn they were from (easily traceable) local farms. Other foods, on the other hand (such as cucumbers and cherry tomatoes) generally came from one of two large food processors: Fresh Point (of Connecticut) or Performance Food Group (the closest one is in Springfield, MA). We contacted Fresh Point and they were able to give us the states where their fruits and vegetables were grown. On the other hand, our voicemails at Performance Food Group went unanswered, so in order to track Performance items we did some research about which areas were big producers of the foods in question and simply tracked from those location to Performance and then Brown (hopefully giving us a somewhat accurate estimate). You can note the foods for which we took an educated guess regarding its origins by the “(likely)” in front of its source.And now what you have been waiting for, the estimated carbon footprint of eating in Brown eateries for one day is…a whopping 45,847.98 lbs CO2, or approximately 1,528.266 pounds per item.
wow.
Our local carbon footprint for one day was 618.5 lbs CO2, meaning that the dining hall footprint was approximately 74 times the size of the local footprint. Even examining the average carbon footprint per item (given that we consumed almost double the ingredients eaten on our dining services day), our calculations suggest a footprint of 35 times more. I think the numbers speak for themselves in showing how enormously reduced the environmental impact becomes when eating locally.
Even besides the obvious environmental impacts in terms of CO2 of eating locally versus otherwise, there is also the simple fact of knowing where your food comes from. We tracked every local ingredient without fail, and it only took about an hour to do so. For dining hall foods, on the other hand, we spent many hours doing research, and still did not come close to finding all the sources of our food.
In attempting to track the origin of the Ratty’s feta cheese, for example, I was never able to find the exact source. While a real food intern informed us that the cheese was from a company called Atheno’s, their website had literally no information about the source of the cheese or even a number we could call. After another 30 minutes of research I discovered that Atheno’s is owned by Kraft, but except for an online “general inquiries” form (that curiously requires you to include your age) the Kraft website also has no contact information. We had no way of getting in contact with the company whose products we were eating, and this, to say the least, was extremely disturbing.
For those who are interested, here is the list of foods we ate and tracked from Brown Dining halls. As with the local foods, we used hootroot.com to calculate the carbon footprint. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns!
Eggs: Little Rhody Foods, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Farm, Monroe, NH 232.68 lbs CO2
Apples: Hill Orchard, Johnston, RI 12.31 lbs CO2
Milk: Rhody Fresh milk (this local company uses numerous RI dairy farms for its milk, so we picked one called Emma Acres which is in Exeter, RI), Exeter, RI 24.85 lbs CO2
Yogurt: Haynes Dairy, Claremont, NH, 85.83 lbs CO2 to Stonyfield Yogurt Works, Londonderry, NH, 104.92. Total: 190.75 lbs CO2
Pizza: 6595.86 lbs CO2
mozzarella: Narragansett Creamery, Providence, RI 4.26 lbs CO2
tomato sauce: (likely) California, 3388.61 lbs CO2
tomato: (likely) Florida, 1412.59 lbs CO2
flour: (likely) Kansas, 1790.4 lbs CO2
Cucumber: Florida, 1343.53 lbs CO2 to Fresh Point, Hartford, CT 06114 , 92.97 lbs CO2. Total: 1446.5 lbs CO2
Feta: Athenos, owned by Kraft, (likely) Wisconsin 1250.81 lbs CO2
Cherry tomato: (likely) Florida, 1375.12 lbs CO2 to Performance, Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 1462.22 lbs CO2
Spinach: (likely) California, 3328.61 lbs CO2
Quinoa: (likely) Colorado, 2108.45 lbs CO2 to Performance, Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 2195.55 lbs CO2
Whole-wheat pasta: (likely) Kansas, 1710.37 lbs CO2 to Performance, Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 1797.47 lbs CO2.
Carrots: California, 3211.7 lbs CO2 to Fresh Point, Hartford, CT, 92.97 lbs CO2. Total: 3304.76 lbs CO2
Snap peas: (likely) California, 3328.61 lbs CO2
Short Grain Rice: (likely) Arkansas, 1486.1 lbs CO2
Corn: Corn Belt, (likely) from Michigan, 931.44 lbs CO2
Zucchini: (likely) California, 3211.7 lbs CO2 to Fresh Point, Hartford, CT, 92.97 lbs CO2. Total: 3304.67 lbs CO2
Pinto beans: (likely) North Dakota, 1917.58 lbs CO2 to Performance, Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 2004.68 lbs CO2
Black beans: (likely) North Dakota, 1917.58 lbs CO2 to Performance, Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 2004.68 lbs CO2
Guacamole: most Avocados are from Mexico, 2742.46 lbs CO2
Sour cream: (likely Daisy brand) Garland, Texas, 1831.12 lbs CO2
Monterey Jack Cheese: (likely) Wisconsin, 1170.78 lbs CO2 to Performance Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 1257.88 lbs CO2
Mac n’ Cheese: 939.68 lbs CO2
Noodles: (likely) from Philadelphia Macaroni Company, Warminster PA, 250.49 lbs CO2 to Performance Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 337.59 lbs CO2
Butter: Cabot Cheese Company, Cabot, VT, 201.52 lbs CO2 to Performance Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 288.62 lbs CO2
Milk: Rhody Fresh milk (this local company uses numerous RI dairy farms for its milk, so we picked one called Emma Acres which is in Exeter, RI), Exeter, RI 24.85 lbs CO2
Cheddar cheese: Cabot Cheese Company, Cabot, VT, 201.52 lbs CO2 to Performance Springfield, MA, 87.1 lbs CO2. Total: 288.62 lbs CO2
Red onions: Fresh Point, Hartford, CT, 92.97 lbs CO2
Clementines: (likely) California, 3328.61 lbs CO2
Sweet potatoes: (likely) North Carolina, 659.74 lbs CO2 to Fresh Point, Hartford, CT, 92.97 lbs CO2. Total: 752.71 lbs CO2
TOTAL: 45,847.98 lbs CO2
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